Professional telemarketing is powerful in B2B
In B2B there are longer lead times, higher value outcomes and complex decision-making units. Moving a prospect from the awareness phase to a purchase requires a trusting relationship. Acquiring a relationship and trust comes in time and can be achieved easily through human contact. It is this that makes professional telemarketing a powerful and successful solution for B2B.
Telemarketing can be applied at every stage of the B2B sales funnel and can be adapted to each individual and their specific requirements.
Gallup defines customer engagement as:
“A customer’s emotional or psychological attachment to a brand, product or company.”
Why the telephone is the ultimate engagement tool
“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.” (Source: Dale Carnegie)
Where email or online surveys tend to be impersonal, telephone conversations are the opposite. The telephone allows you to create a personal and emotional connection with each customer, one by one.
Experience the ‘human’ side of your business
Conversing with customers on the phone allows them to experience the ‘human’ side of your business, which makes it easier to build rapport. Establishing a rapport encourages customers to share their feelings, concerns and opinions in more detail.
A phone conversation also allows you to hear tone of voice and emotion, which adds meaning. These nuances can be easily missed when collating written surveys, or reading social media comments.
The personal nature of a real, two-way conversation
This helps establish trust and build deeper levels of understanding through open questions that focus on customer pain points and challenges. Armed with this level of insight, you’ll be in a better position to understand, and therefore meet, your customers’ emotional needs and expectations.
Always without exception, customers should be the core focus of your business. Don’t forget that a customer can involve the management of multiple relationships. Creating and maintaining strong B2B connections is key to the success of a business.
B2B is less about business and more about relationships. In fact, B2B is really P2P (person-to-person).
The measurable nature of telemarketing means that different approaches and propositions can be tried and quickly adapted to improve any approach.
Building rapport
The opportunity to build rapport over the phone creates a more relaxed medium where customers may be more open than in a written communication or on social media. Emotion can also be better conveyed through verbal communication, so a customer’s level of dissatisfaction or delight are fully appreciated and understood.
The overall goal of telemarketing is to expand a company’s brand and reach. Successful B2B telemarketing builds an understanding of, and a relationship with the buyer using the human element.
Humans are social creatures. We long to interact with other people, not nameless, faceless companies, especially when it comes to doing business.
For further information and help on best practice for B2B relationship management request a copy of our latest whitepaper: B2B still needs one-to-one relationship management
To discuss a relationship management project call 0844 880 4584 or email info@brittain.co.uk
